Ganzorig Hall
The Riders of the Plains, the men of Ganzorig Hall value cavalry and the craft of melee combat. They live from the wealth of the plain and extend a promise of protection to every human clan and homestead within the central plains of the Common Lands. Seen as man's northern buffer against the Orcs of the Western Mountains, they are a valued ally of Trickletown, Potno, and Azuran. However, they are often left to their own devices. Local Dungeons: Hole in the Hills, Morakki Burial Mound Escape from Slavery and Divine Aid The Fall threw the eastern giant kingdom of Stenora into chaos. In the mess, many, many human slaves escaped and attempted to wander to freedom. Many died in the inhospitable heights, but many more found their way down to the central plains. Legend says that the house of Kihlen was visited by a God, one of the few surviving Gods. This deity was a merciful being and blessed these survivors with the favor of horses. Where the Kihlen line went, horses were to be found. Horses were the foundation of a new nation. They aided in transport and defense. They served as food and clothing in death. They were a symbol of hope to these disparate survivors of a slave nation of giants. Around the year 27 A.F., these survivors discovered a small canyon in the edge of the mountains they once feared. It had a small spring, timber, fertile ground, defensible passes, and protection from the blustering wind. Their only fear was the things that lived above. It had been almost three decades since these former slaves had seen any sign of their former masters. Taking this risk, they settled down in the pass. These slaves came to call them Ganzorig, the riding men. Makel Kihlen was made queen of this new kingdom. They built a great structure, Ganzorig Hall as a center of trade and life for their people. For centuries, the Ganzorig were secluded from the rest of the world. They happily heard nothing of the Giants, but now were plagued by Orcs and Hobgoblins from the Western Mountains. Three centuries passed as the nation grew. Small towns were founded outside of the pass. They transitioned from hide armors to leather. Their sharpened wooden spears replaced with iron blades from elder years. They made contact with Trickletown and the Wood Elves of the Wildwood. The War of Thunder and Stone In 378 A.F., stories began appearing of enormous shapes moving about the mountains at night. Farmers and their kine vanishing over the course a single moon. The massive footprints left in soft ground confirmed that not all of the Giants were dead. Indeed, for the titanic masters had not forgotten their escaped slave breeding stock. Grandmaster Grore'kin and a force of Giants appeared before the gates of Ganzorig Hall, wishing to parlay with the humans. They invoked the ancient order of the "great over the small". This was an old philosophy to justify the Giant's world view. If the men submitted before Grore'kin and the Giants, they would leave their nation unmolested as long as 25 humans were given as tribute twice a year. If they refused to re-enter slavery, he threatened to eat every child in the kingdom. King Ulibar Kihlen had a tough decision to make. They were unaware of how organized or powerful the Giants were. The paltry force Grore'kin had brought might have been a scouting force, it might be all they had. No force of men had re-entered the mountains since their initial escape almost four centuries ago. Invoking the survivor spirit that kept their people alive, he refused the Giants demands. The War of Thunder and Stone, as this conflict would come to be called, was a bloody affair for the people of Ganzorig. They had built a large army and had many experienced fighters. However, the Giants had spent 400 years wringing their hands in anger and imagining the revenge they would visit upon their wayward slaves. Though their numbers were few, they had much experience in war and had prepared for this day. They had their own army to contend with Ganzorig. They had mixed their few human slaves with new found Orc captives. Over four hundred years, the Orog had become the Giant's new servants. As intelligent as humans, but lacking the unity and mercy to unite them, they were a terrifying foe. Ganzorig was almost pushed to its breaking point. The Giants smashed the northern gates, razed the villages of the plains, and re-built their human slave stock. By 382 A.F., Ganzorig Hall itself came under siege. King Ulibar Kihlen was killed one year prior, leaving Marion Kihlen on the throne. The giants bombarded the stone defenses with boulders while the Orogs formed great trenches of pikes and bows. The siege was a complete choke hold over the valley and the fortress. Marion's advisers told her to surrender, maybe the people of the land had a better chance as living slaves rather than Orog and Giant food. Donning the magical horse hide armor of her ancestor, Makel Kihlen, she made a short prayer to whatever deity first appeared before her family. In this great hour of need, the fate of their people was at stake. She grew very silent for a stretch of time and then started up as if from a dream. She said that they were to ride out in one last show of force. All men were called to arms. She prayed for the strength to slay her enemies and free her people. She walked onto the battlefield hoping for a miracle and expecting a slaughter. Indeed, the sudden offensive took the Giants by surprise and they cut into the swathe besieging the keep. It was only upon the battlefield that Marion realized the numbers they were against. Aside from the 10,000 Orog army, a full 50 Giants had been brought to fight. Grore'kin himself watched the battle from afar. The fight quieted and paused for a moment as a horn blast came from the south. The battle had been so intense that no one had heard from the scouts on the southern border of an army marching northward from east of the mountains. A shining army, their silver half-plate glinting in the sun. Indeed, it appeared as though an army of silver horses was charging across the battlefield. This army was from Isilsolar, the golden kingdom of men. Far to the East, the slaves of Ganzorig thought it to be a myth or lost to the Fall. The two armies met in the midst of the battlefield as the Orog slaves and Giant masters fled north. Marion Kihlen extended a handshake to the Golden Captain, leader of this force. Behind the helm, Elizabeth Hallard, military adviser to Celine, the Sliver Lady, ruler of Isilsolar. Elizabeth told Marion that she had received a dream from one of their gods, Eldath, goddess of peace, that many souls were in need over the mountains. They believed the Giants to be long dead and were quite shocked to see an army of them. She initally thought their journey was for naught, until she saw Marion's last stand strike out from the burning fortress. Hallard's army stayed for a full five years longer to help re-build the kingdom. Most of the army that came in 401 A.F. settled down in a new adopted home. Aftermath of the war, Druidism, and present day The war did not end that day at Ganzorig Hall. Many more skirmishes were fought along the mountain borders and northern plains, but the shining knights had magical blades that cleaved even Stone Giant flesh and scattered Orogs with their brilliance. By the beginning of 403 A.F., the Giants no longer dared to venture south. Ganzorig Hall flourished. New trades routes with Isilsolar and the import of knowledge led to a magical awakening. Very few Ganzorig knew of magic and none could wield it properly. With tutors from the east, they discovered many potential Druids among their number. The Plain Druids, mystics who gained a spiritual attachment to horses and the winds of the plains, emerged as a shaping force in the new Ganzorig Kingdom. Ganzorig Hall grew and stabilized, fulfilled its destiny of becoming a kingdom of mankind. Darien Kihlen sits on the throne, a wise ruler who has studied Druidism himself. Uur Kihlen is prince to the throne, but actively serves with the rangers of Ganzorig. Many fear for his fate, but know that the man he is becoming will become a great king to their people. The Hobgoblin legions of the Western Mountains are now led by the Half-breed warlord, Smoh'glor. Now Ganzorig struggles with an enemy who is as tenacious as the Giants of old. These barbaric legions of Orc rampage across the plains, threatening to spill into the Common Lands. Darien promises to uphold the mantle of Kihlen and the fate of his people.